LOST News: My review of the New Lost Anthology, “Getting Lost”
Before I begin, I would first like to thank Julia, and BenBella Books publishing company for contacting me with this opportunity to preview their latest release, “Getting Lost: Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J.J. Abrams’ Lost” edited by New York Times-best-selling author of the Ender’s Game series, Orson Scott Card.
Among the many contributors to this new Lost Anthology are:
Amy Berner
Adam-Troy Castro
Clayton Davis
G. O. Likeskill
Nick Mamatas
Joyce Millman
Lani Diane Rich
Robert Burke Richardson
Wayne Allen Sallee
Bill Spangler
Charlie W. Starr
Barry Vacker
Evelyn Vaughn
Leigh Adams Wright
Glenn Yeffeth
Now, I can tell you that I know about as much about reviewing a book as I do about installing spinner rims on a Lockheed L-1011. Although, after thinking about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that what is a Book Review but just a glorified Book Report. So, here is my Review… err… Book Report of this latest anthology about our favorite t.v. show lost.
As an avid theory monger, one of the things that I enjoy most is reading other peoples theories and perspectives on the show. This book is literally packed with varying points of view of not only what is happening on the island, but also of the different things that may influence the writers. The essays range from whimsical to down right confusing, but all in all, the book is a relatively easy read. If I wasn’t chasing after my 18-month-old niece or working *Mumbles about having to work in order to have money to pay for Internet fees.*, I could have easily finished the 260-page book in a day (considering that the last 90 pages consist of a Lost Glossary of sorts by Wayne Allen Sallee).
The book first draws you in with the Introduction by book’s editor Orson Scott Card. Card starts out with a brief history of television, and how various other shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Law & Order, X-Files and 24 paved the way for LOST and its eventual success (both among the populace and the critics) where similar shows, like Twin Peaks, have failed. Perhaps the most intriguing thought in Card’s introduction was his comparisons of Lost to the storytelling style of Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, etc.).
“The Master of that form, the first author we think of when it’s mentioned, was Charles Dickens. In a way, he and the other creators of serialized fiction were the first to face the challenges now faced by the writers of weekly TV series. But unlike movies series, which were intended to be spun out indefinitely, Dickens created weekly series that build together into a single coherent whole. When the serial, was complete, it was a novel. It could be read from beginning to end, whereupon it would reach a conclusion and all the plot threads were resolved.”
Like most people, I had relegated Dickens to the “stuff I learned in high school that I will probably never use” section of my brain. As such, I had never considered nor made the connection between Lost and the classic novels.
There are, however a few essays which miss the mark for me. There are several entries, which are severely dated. One of the essays details the similarities between Lost and Gilligan’s Island; a topic that has been talked to death on practically every Lost forum on the Internet. While reading the essay, I couldn’t tell if the author was honestly misinformed, and thought that he had stumbled upon an original idea, or if he wrote the essay because of it’s prevalence on Lost forums everywhere.
An essay that I found particularly difficult to get through was Double-Locked by Amy Berner. The essay was about Locke’s character written from the point of view of 17th century Philosopher John Locke. Although the content was interesting, and the concept original, I found the multiple quotes from Philosopher Locke’s various works distracting, and the use of Old English triggering long blocked-out memories of my high school lit class.
There are several entertaining essays in this book. One of the essays that I found most interesting was The Art of Leadership by Glenn Yeffeth in which he deconstructs the leadership hierarchy amongst the Losties and makes a very convincing argument that it is Hurly and not Jack who is the real leader of the camp.
Another one of my favorites was Lost Connections by G.O. Likeskill. In this essay, Likeskill (which I’m pretty sure is a pseudonym) uses the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” formula, and tries over the span of 29 days to link the fourteen actors to each other within six connections or less.
Domenic Monaghan was in LOTR as Merry the Hobbit with Sir Ian McKellen who played Gandalf who was Magneto in X-Men with James Marsden who played Cyclops who also guess-starred as Griffin Holbrook in Party of Five with Matthew Fox.
The sheer geekyness of the concept made me laugh out loud, but I do have one complaint. He forgot one. Daniel Dae Kim was in Babylon 5: Crusade a spin off of Babylon 5 in which Ambassador Delenn was played by Mira Furlan who also played our favorite crazy island French chick, Rousseau. Although they never acted in a scene together, there were many regular actors that spanned both series.
The bane of his existence throughout the 29 days spent researching on IMDb, however, was Yunjin Kim. Since Lost is Yunjin Kim’s first foray into western entertainment, it made it almost impossible to connect her to her fellow cast mates. Likeskill’s frustration continued to grow throughout progression of the essay, which made for a very entertaining read. Yet, the cherry on top was the Author’s note at the end of the essay:
“Writer G.O. Likeskill is a journalist currently taking a sabbatical at the world famous Arkham Asylum. Visiting days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are connected by Wednesdays.”
Although Lost Connections was probably my favorite essay in the book, my hands down favorite moment in the book had to have been when Lani Diane Rich ripped into the Shannon-Sayid relationship in her essay, Lost in Love: A Romance Writer Takes On the Love Stories in Lost. Sorry to all the Shayid shippers out there.
“With all due props being given to Abrams, Lindelof, and Co. during the course of this essay, I have to say that I’d like to know what kind of high-class Oahu crack these guys were smoking when they put this pairing together. Sayid is a fascinating character with integrity and strength and inner turmoil and a butt-load of angst, and they paired him with Shannon! Sure, her dad died and her super bitch of a step mom cut her out of the family fortune in Abandoned (2-6), but for all of us who have had to work for a living from day one I say, boo-frickin-hoo Shannon. She’s too shallow to love anyone but herself, too dumb to be truly evil, too narcissistic to care about anything that doesn’t directly affect her, and we’re supposed to believe that Sayid could love her?”
“Vincent’s incredible luck of surviving Shannon’s indifference does not make her worthy of Sayid. The last woman Sayid loved was a freedom fighter who risked her life for her principles in “Solitary (1-9), and now he’s hot for… Shannon? What? I could understand if he was just a guy looking for sex – I mean, let’s face it, forty days on a desert island and Shannon might start looking good to me – but… love? Shannon? Hello? The only redeeming this story line is that Shannon bites it in season two in Abandoned (2-6). While Ana Lucia isn’t much better, at least she’s not… Shannon Igh.”
Ouch! Why do I get the feeling that Shannon is not Lani’s favorite character?
As a whole, I can say that I enjoyed this book. Although there are parts of it that definitely dragged, but then again, what book doesn’t, I would definitely recommend Getting Lost as a must read for any Lost fan.
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you know, it must be interesting to go home and think about Lost ALL FREAKIN DAY… :D